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How to Wind Cord on a Reel

Jennifer Habersham

Not only does leaving cords lying around your home look awful, it's also dangerous. You can purchase cord reels from your local hardware store. Most come with handles or cranks, making it easy to wind the cord around the reel.

Tip

Hold the cord in your free hand as you turn the handle to stop any knotting.

A cord reel keeps your cords neatly wrapped around a barrel, which makes for easy storage and use at a later time. While most cord reels rest on the ground, some can be mounted to the wall.

Winding Cord on a Reel

  1. Untangle the cord that you want to wind in the reel. Lay the cord out as flat as possible. This will make the winding process much easier.

  2. Place the end of the cord through the small hole in the center of the winding wheel's barrel. Go through the inside of the barrel so that the end of the cord sticks out toward you, not toward the barrel. It does not matter which end you stick through the hole.

  3. Leave about a foot of cord sticking out from the hole. You may want to step on it lightly with your foot to keep it in place.

  4. Turn the handle on the reel to wrap the cord around the reel's barrel. Make sure not to roll over the cord that you pulled out. You need this section of cord to be available in case you need to plug it into anything.

  5. Continue turning the handle until the entire cord is wrapped around the reel's barrel. Check carefully to make sure the cord is wrapping evenly. If the cord does not wrap evenly, the entire unit may not sit flat when you store it.